Formal dining category very much alive
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, August 26, 2002
Formal dining business these days recalls Mark Twain's response to newspaper stories telling of his demise — "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
A few years ago, some in the industry viewed the traditional formal dining set-up — china, buffet, table and chairs in generally traditional, higher-priced styles — as a dying category. The emergence of "great room" home layouts, with living, dining and in some case kitchen areas separated not by walls, but low dividers or even by furniture layout alone lent credence to consumer preferences for more casual atmospheres.
To be sure, casual dining remains a powerful case goods category, but in the past couple of years, casual dining suppliers have tended to widen their lines to include more traditional dining settings rather than the other way around.
There are several reasons for formal dining's continued success.
First of all, after a wave of casual contemporary styles inspired by European looks and exemplified at retail by Crate & Barrel and Ikea, among others, crested with a glut of blond, metal-accented case goods, American consumers responded with enthusiasm to a return of formal, traditional introductions among mainstream furniture producers.
With a booming economy creating a round of new wealth, consumers looked to make their home a castle again, and a formal dining room was a logical step to add elegance to their surroundings.
In addition, the grand-scale show homes in thriving Sun Belt real estate markets — a guiding force in product development for many suppliers, especially at high-end trend setters — tended to include dedicated dining areas appropriate for formal settings. Formal dining, as well, is suited to the scales necessary for furniture to make an impact in such large rooms.
Another positive indicator for formal dining — and one that looms larger in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks — is a trend in the United States toward "cocooning." This increased emphasis on the home as a haven and an accompanying rise in the importance to American consumers of entertaining their friends at home should help formal dining maintain its importance to manufacturers and retailers.
While the category was never in question at the high-end, formal dining's most remarkable success story over the past five years is in medium price points, where casual dining posed the greatest threat to unseating formal styles. Most of the credit here lies in the ongoing growth of — you guessed it — imports.
Imports gave consumers of mid-price and even promotional furniture access to traditional formal looks, especially Queen Anne and French styles that emphasize an abundance of carving.
Suddenly, a formal dining suite from China could be had for the same price as a lot of casual settings. For consumers not dedicated to purchasing made-in-America products — and if other industries are an indication, such consumers are a minority — they could add a surprising amount of wood and detail to their dining rooms.
As a percentage of total case goods, dining in general and formal dining in particular take a back seat to bedroom furniture. According to the Furniture/Today 2002 Case Goods Style Survey, formal dining (18%) and casual dining (15%) combine for 33% of case goods sales at the more than 425 stores responding.
Master and youth bedroom, on the other hand, combined for 51% of case goods sales at responding stores. In fact, master bedroom alone at 40%, exceeded all dining sales, both casual and formal.
Those figures are not surprising, since most homes generally have more than one, and as many as four or five bedrooms, compared to one, perhaps two eating areas.
Not surprisingly, traditional styles dominate dining room in most U.S. markets. According to the Furniture/Today Case Goods Style Survey, traditional styles account for 72% of sales in the Northeast; 73% in the Midwest; and 85% in the South.
In the West, however, contemporary looks total 63% of the market for dining furniture. In a more focused breakdown, contemporary also did well in the Northeast and Midwest, where the category rang up 28% and 27% of dining sales, respectively, and was in second place behind American country in both markets.
In terms of the fastest-growing style, the Furniture/Today survey indicates that Mission and Arts & Crafts looks are the hottest growth area for formal dining.
In the Northeast, Mission/Arts & Crafts was named by 20% as the fastest growing style. That style also was fastest-growing in the Midwest by 23% and the West by 38%.
In the South, however, European traditional is the growth leader in formal dining styles named, by 27%.
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| Category at a glance Market size at retail in billions |
| Performance in full-line furniture stores | |
|---|---|
| Median number of lines carried: | 5 |
| Source: Furniture/Today's 2002 Furniture Store Performance Report, representing the performance of more than 250 furniture stores in fiscal year ending between Dec. 31, 2001, and May 31, 2002. | |
| Percent of total sales: | 8% |
| Share of selling space: | 9% |
| Gross margin percent: | 43% |
| Annual stock turns: | 2.7x |
